Conference focuses on wellness for women

TROY >> Being healthy, wealthy and wise are three qualities that every woman strives for, and one bank gave local women the key with an annual educational conference designed just for women.

KeyBank hosted its fifth annual Key4Women Healthy, Wealthy and Wise conference Thursday at Troy’s Hilton Garden Inn. The conference is an entirely free networking and educational event aimed to help women build connections and gain new perspectives on business and personal challenges. This year it drew more than 75 attendees.

This year’s theme was how to look your best, and how to feel your best. Addressing these challenges, special guests speakers were owner of Whitney Cooper fashion accessories and clothing company Jean Sharkey, and Latham’s Fitness Together personal fitness training studio owner Jenny May Clermont.

Sharkey’s keynote speech helped attendees learn how to create the essential elements of style that compliment their life at work and on weekends, with a little accessorizing weaved in, as well as tips on how to stretch wardrobe dollars.

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With more than 30,000 different nutrition books on the market today, Clermont clued local women in on what being truly healthy means. She shared her seven simple tips on improving health and wealth that have helped her succeed in wellness and the business world simultaneously.

One of the important factors of Key4Women is providing women not only with capital, but with networking opportunities and education, Clifford said. “Women are great about sharing everything, from the color of their lipstick to who their financial planner is,” Clifford said. The event is designed to provide an opportunity for more of those exchanges. “There’s a great energy in the room when you get a room full of women together,” she added.

One crucial session of the evening was Five Financial Tips Women Can’t Afford to Ignore, a panel discussion moderated by Fran O’Rourke, senior vice president and market manager at Key Private Bank. The five key components to a healthy financial life are: communication, inventory, understanding risk, not being afraid to ask questions, and planning. “Whether somebody has $100 in their bank account or $100,000, there are fundamental things everyone should be paying attention to,” she said.

A personal safety lesson was also taught by with Colonie Police Department officers David Ming and Greg Jensen.

Local business owner Drue Sanders has attended the free conference each year since its beginning. She is a KeyBank client in financing her company Drue Sanders Custom Jewelers. “It’s great because you can learn so much,” she said, noting that it gives her more balance in her business life. “We tend to work too much and not take care of ourselves.” From the sessions, Sanders plans to better are health and apply additional security measures into her everyday life.